Activation of TLRs (Toll-like receptors) induces gene expression of proteins involved in the immune system response. TLR4 has been implicated in the development and progression of CVDs (cardio-vascular diseases). Innate and adaptive immunity contribute to hypertension-associated end-organ damage, although the mechanism by which this occurs remains unclear. In the present study, we hypothesize t...

BACKGROUND The differences between acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and stable angina pectoris (SAP) in Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression levels in coronary plaques are not well known. TLR gene expression levels were examined, not only in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), but also in coronary plaques in ACS and SAP patients. METHODS AND RESULTS TLR gene expression levels were examine...

The recent characterization of human homologues of Toll may be the missing link for the transduction events leading to NF-kappaB activity and proinflammatory gene transcription during innate immune response. Indeed, CD14 is not thought to participate directly in the cell signaling, but rather one or more of the mammalian Toll-like receptors (TLRs) acts in concert with the lipopolysaccharide (LP...

IFITM3 is involved in cell adhesion, apoptosis, immune, and antivirus activity. Furthermore, IFITM3 gene has been considered as a preferential marker for inflammatory diseases, and positive correlation to pathological grades. Therefore, we assumed that IFITM3 was regulated by different signal pathways. To better understand IFITM3 function in inflammatory response, we cloned swine IFITM3 gene, a...

OBJECTIVE The present study was to investigate the feasibility of adenovirus-mediated small interference RNA (siRNA) targeting Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) gene in ameliorating lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced acute lung injury (ALI). METHODS In vitro, alveolar macrophages (AMs) were treated with Ad-siTLR4 and Ad-EFGP, respectively, for 12 h, 24 h, and 48 h, and then with LPS (100 ng/mL) for...

Microglial activation is a key feature in Alzheimer's disease and is considered to contribute to progressive neuronal injury by release of neurotoxic products. The innate immune receptor Toll-like-receptor 4 (TLR4), localized on the surface of microglia, is a first-line host defense receptor against invading microorganisms. Here, we show that a spontaneous loss-of-function mutation in the Tlr4 ...

Intermittent hypoxia (IH) during sleep is a hallmark of sleep apnea, causing significant neuronal apoptosis, and cognitive and behavioral deficits in CNS regions underlying memory processing and executive functions. IH-induced neuroinflammation is thought to contribute to cognitive deficits after IH. In the present studies, we tested the hypothesis that IH would differentially induce inflammato...

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) is a heterodimeric cytokine produced by dendritic cells (DCs) in response to Toll-like receptor (TLR) ligation. While the mechanisms regulating IL-12p40 chain gene expression are well characterized, molecular events involved in IL-12p35 chain gene activation remain to be clarified. Since IL-12p35 mRNA was induced in human DCs activated through TLR3 or TLR4 but not TLR2, w...

TLR4 is the receptor for LPS and plays a critical role in innate immunity. Stimulation of TLR4 activates proinflammatory pathways and induces cytokine expression in a variety of cell types. Inflammatory pathways are activated in tissues of obese animals and humans and play an important role in obesity-associated insulin resistance. Here we show that nutritional fatty acids, whose circulating le...